Gazette - Youth gangs in France

COVER SECTION

Confronting the situation in the suburbs of Lyons

By Richard Pla
Chief of Police in Vénissieux/ Saint-Fons, France

In Vénissieux, a city of 57,000 inhabitants located just outside Lyons, France, some 20,000 residents live in a sensitive housing project (cité) called Les Minguettes.

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In Les Minguettes, a public housing project built on a 220-hectare plateau above Vénissieux, France, youth gangs present a problem for local residents and police.

Les Minguettes was the scene of France’s first urban riots back in 1981. This decades-old incident — combined with a violent outbreak in another Lyons suburb in 1990, and more recent clashes in the past three years — has sparked extensive media coverage of France’s so-called sensitive urban zones and the youth gangs who live there. The French National Police, along with political and institutional authorities, remain steadfast in their efforts to grapple with the youth gang problem.

In Les Minguettes, police face some neighbourhood-specific issues. Police in Vénissieux are focussing on two complementary approaches in an effort to gain the upper hand: adapting their internal structure and processes, and developing an operational partnership with local authorities.

New structures and processes

Internally, Vénissieux police have created an additional night shift of plainclothes officers who ride in unmarked vehicles. The primary mission of this team, which is made up of daytime employees, is to fight urban violence and crime via patrols, cold surveillance and intervention in flagrant offences.

Authorities have also put together a team of legal experts tasked with investigating specific incidents of urban violence, such as vehicle torchings or projectiles thrown at institutional representatives.

The Vénissieux police station has hired a full-time social worker who works on-site to greet complainants and deal with persons facing difficult situations.

In day-to-day operations, police units are seeking to gain greater control of their jurisdictions. While not all-encompassing, this effort is leading to long-term action in several areas. For instance, the number of arrests for drug offences has quadrupled in the past five years.

Other ongoing efforts include regularly checking drinking establishments and securing sensitive locations such as urban transit and common areas in buildings. Police efforts to combat the underground economy — and more specifically the drug trade — are the surest way to fight the influence of cité gangs.

Operational partnership

As for the development of an operational partnership, support from the local Security and Crime Prevention Council is key.

The council includes the mayor, the prefect for security and defence, the local prosecutor, elected municipal officials, and representatives from the National Police, fire departments, and agencies responsible for national education, urban transportation and social housing. The council holds plenary sessions two or three times a year, and their decisions are carried out by various task forces.

The council holds a meeting called the “Public Services Point” every Monday morning at city hall. This meeting allows institutional partners to exchange information and identify adequate solutions to specific problems.

Because arson attacks on vehicles are a major concern, authorities give specific attention to this type of crime. The National Police can count on support from the local prosecutor to ensure appropriate legal response for arson incidents. The municipality and landlords have also joined forces to identify and remove car wrecks that are vulnerable to being burned and to install a video surveillance system.

Securing sensitive locations — such as the mall in Les Minguettes, the market, subway stations and common areas in buildings — is another partnership initiative. Co-operation with landlords is especially fruitful. Major landlords have come together to create a service that enables them to send response teams into buildings where common areas are being overtaken by youth gangs.

In Les Minguettes, the most notorious gang hangout area has been targeted for joint police–landlord operations. Landlords contact parents of problem youth, making them aware of their responsibilities and warning them that the youth will be evicted if the situation persists. No one has been evicted yet, but interventions of this nature have helped to identify gang members and hangouts, and to isolate and weaken ringleaders by removing their less determined followers.

No single entity — including the National Police — will be able to change Vénissieux’s gang situation on its own. Authorities need a true operational partnership. Authorities also need the support of the people. In this regard, police have begun explaining their actions to the community by attending meetings organized by neighbourhood councils and landlords.